Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Seventeen
LVPD
It was one of those moments that he could have lived without. In fact, he would have given up just about anything to avoid this mess. It was blowing up around him. None of this could be happening. It was impossible.
What the hell was going on?
It all started with one phone call, and it should have been simple enough. Now, Jeffery Raye was on the edge of his seat as his detective in homicide reported in, skipping her boss.
One of their own was dead.
Yeah, he knew, but it wasn’t supposed to go down like this. In fact, it was supposed to be better planed. Clearly, that was not the case.
This was bad.
Very.
Very.
Bad.
And at the center of it?
Unfortunately, it was him and Thomas Christ. Well, when it came down to it, he knew what he had to do.
He was going to have to take one for the team. As in take a life—Thomas Christ’s.
The man had flubbed this, and what was going to happen now was called clean up in aisle Homicide. It looked like more blood was going to be shed.
But how to do it?
This wasn’t easy.
Then it hit him like a divine intervention.
He knew how to make it all go down.
On the phone, Commissioner Raye set the scene. Hopefully, he could pull this off.
“I’ll call him to my office, Detective Wayne, and you and your partner can pick him up once I get his gun away from him. If you try something in the squad room, it might be ugly.”
He painted the shoot out that had happened there not that long ago. The whole time, his fingers were crossed. He needed this woman to go for it. If she went at Thomas Christ before he could talk to him, it would be a disaster.
“Good idea, sir.”
He released the breath he was holding.
“We don’t want anyone hurt. He’s clearly crazy if he could kill one of his own detectives. Was there any evidence left there?” he asked, hoping for a miracle.
“The techs found some chewed gum at the door. We’re testing it now. We’ll have it in an hour or so.”
He knew he needed to move fast. Commissioner Raye wasn’t sure what Riley Henderson had overheard or if he was going to be implicated in anything. Yes, they’d planned on taking out the attorney, but they only hoped he didn’t open his mouth.
Or he’d have someone else to take out.
“Give me some time. I’ll get him into my office, get him to hand me his gun, and then I’ll let you take over for questioning. I only hope he’s not dangerous.”
Poppy understood. “I can stand in there with you, sir,” she offered.
HELL NO!
“Oh, Detective, thank you for that. I will use the weapon of diplomacy on him. That’s what I’m really good at.”
She seemed to have bought it.
“Okay, sir.”
After he hung up, Raye pulled his gun from his desk, and slipped it into his holster. He didn’t often carry, but today…he’d make an exception.
It was time to clean up this mess and loose ends.
Once and for all.
* * * G r e y s o n C r o f t * * *
Julie Pierce’s
Apartment
She was dreading this.
The entire time there, the Russian man said nothing to her, and that made her a nervous wreck. He simply held her hand, trying to reassure her.
Yeah, something bad was coming.
She could tell.
As they walked up to her sister’s apartment, Marissa tried to stay calm, but it wasn’t easy. The tension around them was so thick, you could cut it with a knife.
She tried to breathe.
At the door, he took her keys and opened the apartment for her. Again, she wanted to freak out, but she would try and stay calm.
Inside, he sat her down.
“Marissa,” he said, trying not to let any emotion show on his face. He knew what was coming was going to be bad.
“Dimitri, just do it. Don’t make it pretty, or give me hope. If it’s bad, just rip the fucking bandage off and get it over with. I can handle it.”
She was a woman after his own heart. That’s how he’d want it to go down if it were up to him. Pity patting around it wasn’t going to help anyone.
So, he did the deed.
“I’m sorry, but your sister…she’s dead. The Las Vegas police have her body at the morgue. They found her sometime last night.”
She couldn’t breathe.
It was as if all the air in the room had been sucked out in one hell of a vacuum. She was struggling to get that knot from her chest.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
Was she?
Would she ever be again?
Marissa wasn’t sure. She’d expected this, but she’d hoped and prayed it wouldn’t come.
Marissa sat back, and she stared at the ceiling as she tried to compose herself.
Dimitri moved closer, wanting to soothe her. He could only imagine how she was feeling. Losing one of his sisters would have killed him.
“Honey, are you okay? Do you need water?” he asked, hating he’d been that brutal. Maybe he should have sugar coated it after all.
“How do you go on when you know you’ve let someone you loved down? I was supposed to protect her. I was her big sister, and I let her fall. How do I wake up tomorrow, and continue on?” she asked, staring at him with tears in her eyes.
“I don’t know. The weight on the shoulders of the oldest sibling is always heavy.”
He knew.
He spoke from experience.
She had to make sure he was right. Imploringly, she asked him, “Are you one hundred percent sure it’s Julie? Are there pictures?” she asked.
He pulled out his phone and hesitated. Julie was covered in bruises, marks, and the destruction of a vicious killer.
“Are you sure you want to see this? You can’t forget it once you do, and it’s not like it is in movies.”
She nodded. “I have to. Wouldn’t you to say goodbye?” she asked, tears falling down her cheeks.
He handed her the phone.
She gasped when she saw her sister. Her hand went to her mouth and she began shaking.
Dimitri held her as she dropped the phone.
“It’s her,” she finally admitted. “Oh, God! It’s definitely her.”
Dimitri let her mourn.
“What did he do to her?” she asked softly. “It was some pervert, wasn’t it?”
Yeah, she could say that again.
Dimitri didn’t want to give her the details. In that moment, as she was in his arms, he wanted to kiss her pain away, give her peace, and make it better.
He wanted to protect her.
“I don’t think...”
“Please tell me.”
She stared up into his eyes, and she took his face in the palms of her hand so he had to focus on her.
“Just tell me.”
“The killer dumped her. She was sexually assaulted, she was abused, and she was broken.” Did he know this for sure? Well, Riley hadn’t told him, but he knew in his heart what had been done to her. After everything they’d learned the last couple of days, he could guess. Maybe it was best he wasn’t one hundred percent sure.
Then he could protect her.
She began crying.
Dimitri pulled her into his lap and held her. All the while, he didn’t tell her who did this to her sister. Thankfully, she didn’t ask. As long as she kept thinking it was some faceless, nameless pervert, he was safe.
Once she asked…
How was he supposed to tell her that her sister was likely tortured and slaughtered by his blood?
His brother did this to her sister.
He only hoped once the truth came out that she’d forgive him for all of it.
While he was responsible for his sisters, he was also responsible for the man doing this. If he was, indeed, his sibling, Dimitri knew he had to carry that burden too.
He’d left him behind.
Dimitri couldn’t help but wonder if he’d come and taken him, too—might this be different?
It weighed on him.
Then again, that worry could wait. He needed to think about this woman. She needed him. Later, if he got lucky, when she found out, she’d protect him back.
Maybe they could heal each other.
Marissa held onto him, and he kept crooning to her as he tried to soothe the hurt. As he cradled her in his arms, she at least had this.
She had him.
What she needed was more than just his gentle touch. Marissa needed to forget. She needed something to chase away the fear, and he was good at playing protector.
That was what she needed from him.
“Please stay with me,” she whispered. “I can’t be alone. I can’t get through this alone, and I’m by myself now in the world.”
He got it.
In the back of his mind, he was worried about telling her about his connection to this. Still, she was pressed against him, and his hand was stroking her long pale leg.
His body was fighting the urge to come to life, even as she moved in his lap.
This was penance.
Right here, he was in freaking Hell.
As she sobbed and cried, he began saying prayers, novenas, and anything else he could think of to distract himself. He wasn’t a huge believer in religion, but if God could keep his dick in check, just until she was out of his lap, he’d go to church.
Then, she stared at him.
“I’m all alone and afraid.”
He did the stupidest thing ever. “You have me. I’ll take care of you.”
Why he said it, Dimitri wouldn’t know, but the second the words were out of his mouth, he let that wall down.
It crashed.
He let the protective barrier fall, and he gave in to all the things he knew he shouldn’t succumb to in his life.
Only, he was desperate to feel.
He was desperate to be loved and protected in return, and he was willing to risk it.
Maybe, she’d want him, too, and that emptiness would cease for him.
When she pulled away, Marissa was still shaking. The tremor rolled through her and reverberated through him. She didn’t speak, instead she stared into his aqua eyes.
There was pain there and misery just like she was sure he found in hers.
“You have me, Marissa. I’ll be here for you.”
That was kind.
In that moment, she needed that. As she stared into his handsome, Russian face, she needed something else that was there between them.
Marissa wanted to forget, and she was willing to use his body to get past the pain.
Since he was offering…
Her mouth found his, and they fell into the kiss.
There was that battle of tongues as they both came to life. Gone was that mourning, and instead, there was need. They were both so empty.
So broken.
“Dimitri?” she whispered, as she pulled away.
His body tensed. “Yes?”
“I need to feel something other than pain. Make me feel,” she whispered. “Please. I need someone to understand.”
He did understand.
He wanted that one single emotion every day of his miserable life. It sucked not to be able to feel a connection with anyone.
“I want to be with you.”
His heart thundered at what her words meant. He really wanted to be with her too.
“I don’t want to take advantage of you. I don’t want you to do something you aren’t ready for, Marissa.”
She moved off his lap to straddled his hips.
“I’m ready.”
And she was.
That’s when she yanked his shirt open, sending buttons flying all over the place.
Her mouth found his throat, and she left bites and kisses across his flesh.
He was euphoric.
Then the words came out, and Dimitri couldn’t hold it in anymore.
“I want you.”
“Then have me,” she finally said, going back against his body to feel the warmth.
Marissa was so chilly inside. It was as if her heart was cold.
“Make me warm. Fill my body with yours.”
Dimitri almost erupted right there.
He’d had sex with a lot of women, and he’d even loved once before but been betrayed. This feeling of hope filled him.
She might heal him.
Maybe she could fill that emptiness too.
Standing, he wanted to get her naked.
He pushed her skirt from her body, and it fell to the floor. Marissa kicked it out of the way as he stood to face her.
Marissa ran her hands down his chest, and she wanted to do truly wild and wicked things with him to forget.
In that lust, she might find calm.
“Put your hands on me,” he said, biting her ear. “Show me what you need.”
She could do that.
Marissa, flicked open his pants and pushed them down his hips. They both stood face to face, bottomless, and breathless.
“I need more, moya babochka.”
She stopped moving. “What’s that mean?” she asked, kissing him on the lips.
He didn’t even realize he’d used Russian. That’s how distracted he’d been.
“It means my butterfly.”
She turned and lifted her shirt from her body, showing him her back. On it, there was a butterfly.
“From something ugly, broken, and battered always comes something new,” she said, thinking about her childhood and how she’d never let herself be hurt like that again. Marissa would always put herself first, protecting her own heart. Men couldn’t be trusted.
At her words, his pulse skipped.
Then, he left a kiss on the blue and green tattoo.
Once more, he took her into his arms, and they fell backward onto the couch. She was above him, straddling his body, as he worked his way across her throat.
“I feel better,” she said, staring down at him.
He felt amazing.
In fact, Dimitri had never felt anything so amazing in his life. This woman had him enraptured. Her skin was creamy and so silky, he just couldn’t get enough of touching her. Most importantly, she wanted him without him having to pay for that connection.
He stopped being bad blood, and a killer, and he was now simply Dimitri Gideon.
As his hand slid lower, moving past the very sexy lace panties, he found the ultimate prize.
She was wet.
For him.
Dimitri couldn’t remember the last time that happened. When you paid for sex, you just did it. They were the vessel for his need, but this woman… she genuinely wanted him.
She moaned as he touched her.
“Dimitri,” she gasped, as his fingers did incredibly wild things to tease and torment her.
He wanted to watch her fall. With his fingers, he drove her wild, took her to the edge, and then let her tumble into a beautiful orgasm.
That was the first in a long time too.
He was actually worried about her pleasure, and he couldn’t remember the last time he did.
Oh wait.
It had been with that one woman he’d once loved. The one who tore his heart out at the tender age of twenty.
Now it was different.
He could hope again.
His hands found her hair, and he kissed her through that first orgasm.
Moving forward, he pressed her to the cushions beneath them.
“Dimitri.”
“Marissa,” he said, teasing her with his mouth.
She opened for him, and he tore her panties from her body with a gasp. The rendering of fabric caught them both off guard.
He waited, expecting her to push him away.
Instead, she did the opposite.
“Yes, please,” she begged. “More!”
He reached for his wallet and pulled out protection. He wanted them both to be safe.
“I’m on birth control.”
He still slid the condom on, out of second nature. Then, he grabbed her hips and slid home.
“I want to feel you explode around me. I want you to feel so much,” he whispered, right before he began moving.
With his hands on her hips, she let him control the ride.
Then, as he rode her body, giving them both so much pleasure, she came again.
Once more, it washed away the pain, and she couldn’t wait for it to disappear beneath more pleasure.
Dimitri held on as she moved, forcing him beneath her.
When he stared up at her, and she was batting her eyes, he was lost.
Damn!
He was so lost.
“What are you thinking?” she asked, as she stopped moving.
“That when I’m in you, I feel like I’m home,” he admitted. “I can stop worrying and just feel.”
“Welcome home then.”
That pushed him over the edge.
He had to have her. While he wanted to let her ride, he needed more.
He needed to be in control during this tug-o-war of pleasure.
Rolling, he placed Marissa beneath him on the cushions, so he could find more solace in her body.
As he began driving in and out of her, he didn’t want the feeling ever to end. She was beneath him, writhing in pleasure, and he needed to fall.
God!
Dimitri needed this one moment of happiness in his life. There was so much shit falling his way, and this woman…
He could forget.
He could have peace.
“Dimitri!” she gasped, as he changed the angle, driving himself into her body.
“I need you, Marissa!”
He kept up the pace and there were beads of sweat on his brow. While he wanted to cum in the worst way, he didn’t want to lose this one feeling.
When she whispered his name, over and over, it took everything he had not to lose it right there.
“God, Marissa! You feel so right,” he admitted, working them both into a frenzy.
There was silence in the small apartment, and he worked her body hard. He’d never wanted something this much before.
She came so many times, she knew she was going to be sore, but still…
Dimitri freaking Gideon was taking her on one hell of a ride. How could you complain about that? He was chasing back the demons, and she could have peace.
She came again, and her nails scraped down his shoulders drawing blood.
He flinched, but didn’t stop. The pain, the blood, the need, and the lust fueled him on. Dimitri refused to let this beautiful sensation go.
He was so close.
He was on the edge.
“Make me cum,” he hissed, pounding himself into her body. “Give me all your pain.”
She was teetering on the edge, and could barely hear him. It didn’t matter. She was lost in the pleasure.
Again, as her nails dug into his shoulders, that kiss of pain sent electricity through his body. He knew it was time.
He exploded.
It was cataclysmic.
Her shout of his name.
His guttural growl of ecstasy as he exploded.
It was unbelievable.
Then the silence fell over the room. There was no talking, no sound of flesh slapping flesh, or the grunts of heated sex.
Only quiet.
Marissa was acutely aware of him over her. She was acutely cognizant that the anger was returning, and trying to pull her back under.
She hated this cesspool of a town.
Dimitri rested on her body, and he laughed. They must look incredibly silly. He had his shirt on, open down his chest, and she was wearing hers, too, but it was pulled up over her breasts so he could admire them.
When he lifted his head, he stared right into her eyes.
They were bright.
They were brilliant.
They were watching him.
Finally, she spoke, “That was…something.”
Marissa couldn’t quite put her finger on it. Still, it was clear she wasn’t the only one who wanted to escape in the sex. It was heated, wild, and fucking.
It was nothing more. There never was more.
He laughed. “Is that a good something, or a bad something?” he asked.
“It was a ‘you made me forget’ something. So, it was very good.”
“Well, I’m glad to have helped.”
He didn’t move.
Dimitri didn’t want to give up that feeling. Normally, it was fuck and run, but now…
He wanted desperately to cuddle.
Marissa hated that the pain was coming back. While he used her body, and she used his, there was silence. She needed more of that. He was a way to get past the loss, and she wanted to do just that.
“What are you thinking about?” he asked, gently leaving a kiss on the top of her nose.
“That I’d like to do that again.”
Oh, so would he. For the first time, in ever, he was craving more from one person. Forget that she nearly killed him when she stabbed him, or that his brother had killed her sister.
He wanted to build something to keep her around.
“Will you stay with me a little longer?” she asked, touching his face. “Will you make me forget for a little while? Maybe we can forget together.”
He kissed her on the lips, grateful that she wanted him to stick close. “If that’s what you need.”
“What do you want?” she asked.
He stared at this woman and a million desires rushed through his mind. Normally, he’d do a hooker, pay her, and walk away.
This time…
He needed more.
His cardinal rule was never to have sex with a woman more than once.
Yet…
Maybe he could make her stay with him if he wrapped himself around her. Maybe she would find out the truth and he would still matter.
He believed in her.
Dimitri wanted to take that elusive chance and share himself.
“Want to go cuddle in bed? I have a couple more condoms, and I’m up for a few more rounds.”
That sounded perfect.
She pulled his mouth to hers.
When he broke free, he picked her up. “I’ll take that as a yes?”
“Yes, Dimitri. It’s a yes. Let’s go hide from everything that chases us.”
Little did she know, he’d done that the last ten years of his life, and it had brought him to this point.
Only, it didn’t matter.
He now knew what everyone else felt when they let themselves give love a chance.
This partnership.
This feeling of peace.
This joy.
And with that, Dimitri Gideon fell for a woman who didn’t know that truth.
All he could hope was it didn’t go bad.
* * * G r e y s o n C r o f t * * *
Downtown Vegas
Happy Child Birthing
Center
Curtis had the best day of his life. As he sat there, while Katerina learned to breathe through labor pains, he couldn’t help but smile.
She was having his baby.
What made it amazing?
That for weeks he’d been trying to feel his daughter move, and for the first time, it happened! His hand was over Katerina’s belly, and in that moment, he felt her.
She kicked.
Then she kicked again.
Sadie Emma Croft kicked so hard, he started to laugh. Everyone looked at him, at first, like he was crazy, but then all the men got it.
That was a miracle.
It was a beautiful thing, and he couldn’t forget it.
So, as he was walking out of the birthing suit, a smile on his face, he couldn’t help but think it was the best day of his whole life.
This was perfection.
“Are you happy, my love?” Katerina asked, holding his hand.
He grinned. “Today was the best day of my life. I got to shop with my girls, I got to feel one swimming in the goo, and I’m going to go home and molest the other one,” he said, biting her on the neck.
She giggled.
Katerina never thought she’d be this happy. This was her blessing in life. She was finally someone’s special love.
She was finally important.
“She was going crazy,” Kat said, patting her belly. “I think she liked the Lamaze.”
“Well, I liked watching you. It got me all hot and bothered. Thus the molesting of my sexy wife when we get home.”
She squeezed his hand.
“Curtis?”
He looked over.
“Yeah, baby?”
“Promise you’ll always look at me just like you did in there. Promise me that no matter what, we’ll have fifty more years to be like this.”
“I will love you for seventy-five more years. I’m going to live to be one hundred, see all forty of my grandkids and great-grandkids, and still chase my wife around in the nursing home.”
She laughed.
“That’s perfect, but…”
“What’s wrong?” he asked, kissing her knuckles.
“Can we grab something to eat? This kid…she’s bottomless.”
He laughed, and it sounded so beautiful to her ears. “I’ll take my girls out for food. What do you want?”
“A salad.”
He looked at her skeptically. “You want a salad? No one has ever said that and actually meant it.”
“Well, I want a burger, but I don’t want a big ass.”
He looked behind her.
“Well, I like your ass, and I really like it naked. So, how about we compromise?”
“How?”
“You get a salad, and I’ll get a burger, and we’ll share. Then we each have half a big ass.”
She snorted. “I love you so much.”
He kissed her. “Oh, Anfisa, I never knew love until you. I’m so damn lucky.”
Her heart melted.
As they were heading to their car, they heard tires and a car door slam.
Curtis turned, and it was the detective.
“HEY!”
Curtis focused on him, and just above the cop’s head, he saw it. There was a flash from a window in the distance.
FBI training kicked in.
Preservation took over.
He knew he had a second and that if he didn’t move, someone was going to die. His instinct took over, and he shoved Katerina, his frame covered her body as he shouted in warning to the detective.
The sound of the bullet was heard, and then the searing pain of it tearing through his body as they fell to the ground.
When they hit, Curtis had the fortitude to make sure he braced his fall from crushing his child.
“CURTIS!” Katerina screamed, as she was splattered with his blood. They rolled, and her hands went to his chest to cover the wound.
Kat screamed for help.
She shouted for the detective as he ran their way.
All the while, she stared down into his face as his life bubbled through her fingers.
“Anfisa,” he whispered, trying to hold on. The edges of his vision were going gray.
Riley hit his knees beside them, and he blocked them both with his body.
Curtis grabbed him by the tie.
“Shooter. Fourth floor. Third window,” he muttered to the detective.
All around them, there was pandemonium.
Screams.
Reporters filming.
Katerina’s weeping.
Curtis stared up into her eyes, and he prayed today wasn’t the last day he’d have.
He’d jinxed himself.
“Curtis, stay with me!” Katerina begged, blood covering her hands and pants. “You can’t go. We have a life ahead of us.”
“I love you,” he said, trying to focus. “Call Greyson,” he whispered to the detective. “Keep my wife safe!”
And then, like that, as the sirens could be heard in the distance, and Katerina kept reminding him of his promise of seventy-five more years, Curtis Croft closed his eyes and prayed for his life.
He prayed with everything he had.
He didn’t want to die.